O’Donovan Returns To Euro RX Pace in Barcelona

Ollie O’Donovan witnessed an improvement in form as he qualified for the Semi-Finals at the Euro RX of Spain, the penultimate round of the 2016 FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars.

The London based Irishman has been a front runner in the 2016 MSA British Rallycross Championship and his form has now upped the ante for his performances in Euro RX. O’Donovan started out well as he qualified 14th in Q1 and then followed this up by going 12th fastest in Q2. On the second day of action, O’Donovan kept his pace up after a jump start by going 14th fastest in Q3 before setting the fourth fastest time in Q4.

The 2007 MSA British Rallycross Champion qualified for the Semi-Finals, however a jump start meant that he would need to take two joker laps which would see him finish fifth in the Semi-Final and out of the Supercar Final. Despite his performance 12 months ago where he qualified in the Final at the same event, there has definitely been an improvement in the Tony Bardy Motorsport prepared Ford Fiesta.

O’Donovan explained why he was happy with his weekend’s work:

“I’m happy with the weekend. We took a good step forward with the car, it was a lot more positive. I was very happy with Q4, the car felt easy to drive and I wasn’t having to push too hard,” said the London-based Irishman. “We made it into the back of the semi-finals, but I threw away a good opportunity to get into the final with the jump start. That was a bit of a pity in the end. I’ve struggled to replicate some of the really good starts we had last year recently, but we were back to old ways when it worked for me this weekend. Overall I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to driving the car again in Latvia.”

The final round of 2016 FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars takes place at the new Riga circuit in Latvia and the Team RX Racing driver is looking forward to the challenge of a new circuit at the end of this season:

“I’m looking forward to Latvia. If we can keep the pace up that we have had this weekend, it will be nice to try and get into the final. Loheac in France was very disappointing a few weeks ago, but the car is much better now and I’m confident we can fight for a place in the final,” said the Shannon Group backed driver.

I have been a very passionate fan of Motorsport for over 30 years with my favourite form of Motor Racing being Touring Cars.
I cover TCR UK, TCR Europe and the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) as well as following the various TCR Series around the world.